Salon de Maria Blog

Posted by Maria Palma at 12:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Before there was a "Salon de Maria" I had an idea to open up a store in downtown San Diego called Studio 747. It was going to be a place for artists to gather and share their work and experiences.  There would be a gallery, studios for artists...among other services. 

However, that idea has involved into an online entity which I would like to introduce to you...Visit the Studio 747 blog for details.  It's not completely ready for a full launch - just wanted to let you know what I've been up to lately! 

Posted by Maria Palma at 10:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted by Maria Palma at 10:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted by Maria Palma at 05:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Art therapy was a field I had thought about getting into at one time. Perhaps I may still do it, but right now I’m really focused on my jewelry business. I know that for me, art is very therapeutic. I can get “lost” in my creativity and simply letting go of all my “issues” and responsibilities. In other words, I am happiest when I am creating art. In Connecticut, hair restoration is done for those who worry too much that their hair falls out, but for me, I escape into my art.

If you are interested in becoming an art therapist, there are several schools that offer art therapy programs, including Northwestern University in Illinois. I also came across the American Art Therapy Association’s website that lists many schools that have Art Therapy programs.

**Sponsored Post

Posted by Maria Palma at 06:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

For a long time I was a “closet artist”. That’s the term I dubbed myself because I was really shy about showing my art to the public. Then I started getting feedback from friends and acquaintances who came to the house - telling me that “You are really good!”

Me, good? I thought. After all, I was just teaching myself how to paint. I wasn’t taking classes at the time. However, after awhile I thought I’d take a class for fun. It was the best thing I ever did because I learned about different art techniques. (Pictured here was one of the paintings I did in that class) After taking that class I felt it was time for me to make my debut! I was finally ready to expose myself and let the world know about my art.

Continue reading "A Few Ways to Get Your Art Exposed" »

Posted by Maria Palma at 09:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I love going to Balboa Park on Free Tuesdays. Every Tuesday some of the museums have free admission and my favorite museums to visit are The Museum of Photographic Arts and the Museum of Art.

However, today I’m not able to make it down to Balboa Park, so instead I wandered around the blogosphere to find other interesting art bloggers. Via the Art News Blog I came across Art & Perception which has fascinating thoughts and pictures from different artists.

There’s a post about being an artist and having a “day job”. One of the day jobs I had in the past was working in the kids’ shoe department at Nordstrom. I love kids and I took the job because I knew it paid well, but boy was it exhausting! Kids can be quite particular about the shoes they wear ;)

Anyways, fast forward to now and I’m doing everything that I love. Making jewelry and writing are my passions and fortunately I’m making enough money to live comfortably! A dream come true...What about you?

Posted by Maria Palma at 11:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I’ve been out in the business blogosphere gallivanting around learning all there is to know about the fashion business and customer service and now it’s time to settle back, reacquaint myself with the other fun and artsy side of me - the side that screams to be taken care of!!

So off to the artsy blogs I go to catch up on all the latest. Here’s some posts that I found of interest:

• Art News Blog tells us about some artists that are making a good living online by selling their paintings. I used to sell my art on Yahoo! Auctions and actually did pretty well there because there isn’t as much competition as eBay. Perhaps I’ll do a whole post on my experience selling online in the future...
• I oogled over a painting by Christina Hankins. So colorful. So fun. So absolutely inspiring! I wish I could whip out my paintbrushes right now, but they’re in storage until I get settled into my little abode in Mexico.
• Carolyn Goodwin introduces us to Nice Package, a Flickr group that shows off pictures of pretty packaging. I’ve always said that sometimes the presentation of the gift is better than the gift itself!

On a creative note, I’ve been a busy bee creating new jewelry for upcoming events here in San Diego. Oh gosh, the holidays are fast approaching! I haven’t been able to post new items to my Etsy store lately, but I should have some up by the end of the week ;)

Posted by Maria Palma at 09:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (2)

I just came across Tammy Powley's blog called Jewelry and Beading... after reading her bio I found that I had visited one of her other blogs, designersReport, earlier today and talked about it at my other blog, TheRunwayScoop!  We must be on the same creative wavelength or something!  PLUS, Tammy is the author behind a blog I subscribe to, The Jewelry Weblog! 

It truly is a small world after all!

Posted by Maria Palma at 08:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

I'm running low on beads, which has left me a little uninspired.  It happens sometimes. I'm looking forward to my next trip to the bead store!  A visit to the bead store is like visiting Willie Wonka's chocolate factory - never been to a chocolate factory, but I'm pretty sure it's the same experience.  Exhilirating!

My favorite bead stores here in San Diego are:

Alotta Jewelry - thank God they moved locations.  The downtown store was very crowded.  The new store is almost like a warehouse!  Rows and rows of beads and I just never have enough time to look at everything...

Gem Mall - this store is located right by the Sports Arena.  A wide selection of beads and good prices if you sign up for the memberships.

If you've never visited a bead store before, I suggest you do.  You'll feel like you entered a candy store.  And who knows, you may be inspired to start making jewelry yourself

Posted by Maria Palma at 12:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I've added a new feature on my website: Jewelry Articles.  I wanted to provide my website visitors some valuable content and resources. 

The first article is called Spring Break - Jewelry Fashion Trends.  This article gives an overview of what the latest spring jewelry trends are with the college crowd

The second article is a how to guide on cleaning sterling silver jewelry.   

In other news, I've added another jewelry auction item.  This set I made a couple weeks ago.  The "boho" set is made of goldstone, faceted glass beads, amazonite, onyx, and freshwater pearl  for accents.

You can bid on this set at my jewelry auction booth at Yahoo!

Posted by Maria Palma at 11:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)